Pop Culture Blog

Nintendo shows off a new ‘Zelda,’ ‘Smash Bros.,’ Amiibo figures, ‘Mario Maker’ and more at E3

There was no new Mario game at Nintendo’s Digital Event, but they announced a ton of other news games that should be very exciting for fans.

They started off with some Super Smash Bros. news. Now, you can use your your Mii characters in Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U. You can make them in one of three varieties: a Mii Brawler, Mii Swordfighter or Mii Gunner. Each type can also select up to four special moves from a selection of 12. They said this is a way for you to make all the characters fans keep requesting for the series (they showed off an Ice-T Mii, which everyone knows is the most requested Smash Bros. character of them all).

The 3DS version of Smash is almost complete. It will hit storesOctober 3, with the Wii U version to follow this holiday season.

Reggie Fils-Aime then showed off a Mario figurine for Nintendo’s line of “toys to life” figures, Amiibo. These figures will be usable “in compatible games,” based on many and they will be usable in a variety of different games. So, universal figures, then. Data is stored on the figure as well as in the game. First game to support them will be Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Next was Yoshi’s Wooly World — like the fantastic Kirby’s Epic Yarn on the Wii, but not really a sequel. Looks adorable, and can be played with two people cooperatively.

Nintendo is making a game based on the Toad levels from Mario 3D World. It’s called Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, and it could be fun little puzzle-y game.

Then they got into one of the show’s biggest highlights: The Legend of Zelda. They talked about how the development team went back to the very first Legend of Zelda game and used the freedom of its world as an influence. When the series transitioned to E3, it became “harder to create the feel of being in a vast world.” The clip we saw featured a beautfil, vast world. Seems open world. The scene they showed off looked beautiful and peaceful, but they were quick to remind us that there is danger in it, too. Game looks gorgeous. 2015 quickly flashed on the screen before they moved on.

What followed was a new trailer for Bayonetta 2, the sequel to Platinum Games’ cult hit action game. Looks like it will be frantic, fun and probably exactly what fans of the original will be way into. Looks like there will be Nintendo-themed costumes for Bayonetta — shown were costumes of Link and Samus. The game will be out this October.

Hyrule Warriors was next, and it definitely looks like Dynasty Warriors in the Zelda universe, which is OK by me. Two players, can play at once one person on the TV, one on the GamePad — you each have your own screen. They imply that just about everyone you might want to be might be playable, and they showed off Zelda, Midna and Impa, specifically. September 26 is the release date.

Monolith Soft’s new Xenoblade Chronicles game finally got a proper trailer with some story, though the dialogue is still in Japanese. Lots of robots flying around and fighting each other. Looks very Japanese, but in a pretty great way. We haven’t seen anything like this at any other presser. We should see more in 2015.

Mario Maker made an appearance, which leaked out a little early this weekend. With it, you can make your own Mario courses with the GamePad stylus. You can use classic graphics or New Super Mario Bros. style graphics and switch between them on the fly. Level creation looks extremely easy. If the sharing options are good, this could be amazing.

Then they announced Splatoon, a new game that is an online, competitive shooter — but one that feels incredibly fresh compared to all the other shooters we’ve already seen at E3. 8-player, 4v4 online multiplayer game about controlling territory. Paint the environment to claim it. Switch between being a squid and being a person. Squids can swim through ink, even if that ink goes up walls. Quick transitions between squid and person. Can quickly jump high above the arena and drop down in an area far away. I didn’t know what to expect when this game first showed up on screen, but the more they talked about it, the more excited I got. It looks like it will be a lot of fun. Comes out 2015.

Their “one more little teaser” at the end was for what looked like an anime based on Super Smash Bros. (featuring Link fighting Pit from Kid Icarus), but the announcement was really the fact that Kid Icarus’ goddess Lady Palutena would be in Super Smash Bros.

But then wait! There was another “one more thing” moment when Shigeru Miyamoto was seen testing out new ideas for games that use the Wii U GamePad — it appears to be a tease for a new Star Fox game that will be announced later today.

That was it for Nintendo’s Digital Event, but they said they will have a more game news that they “didn’t have time for” (that’s weird, Nintendo, since you kinda set your own schedule, didn’t you?), so more announcements could be coming over the next few days. We’ll post more about the biggest news and information as it happens.

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